Asuka's Visit
by MoreCowbell
Summary: Asuka visits Touji in the hospital. Takes place after episode 18.


Asuka's Visit  
by: Oyuki  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Asuka stopped by on Saturday.  
  
Touji was suprised because Shinji wasn't with her. Not that  
he was implying anything, of course. Shinji and Asuka just happened  
to spend a lot of time together, what with their jobs and living  
situation and all. And Touji didn't think Asuka would feel all that  
comfortable visiting him by herself, what with their mutual disgust  
of each other.  
  
But she was there, carrying her school satchel with her. She  
was wearing her uniform, too. It was easy to assume she had come  
straight from school. But when Touji stopped to think about it, he  
realized that there was no way she could have made it so quickly.  
  
He regarded her with suspicion as she walked through the door,  
a slight smile on her face.  
  
"Hey Suzuhara," she greeted, hefting her bag over her  
shoulder.  
  
"Devil-girl," he greeted in reply.  
  
Her smile widened, "I'm glad you didn't lose that sense of  
humour o' yours. That'd be a shame."  
  
"Did you want something?" He asked curtly. He wasn't in the  
mood for her sick games. He knew she was evil, but was she actually  
making fun of him in his current condition?  
  
"I was going to ask you that same question," She retorted,  
pulling up the chair next to his bed, "I figure I could be nice to  
you, if even for a little while."  
  
He scowled, "Well aren't you a saint?"  
  
She ignored him, much to his suprise. He didn't think Asuka  
was physically capable of letting an insult slide. But, he reminded  
himself, Asuka was a girl just full of suprises. He'd known it since  
the first day they had met, and he still knew it now. Whether or not  
that was a good thing was still a subject being left under  
consideration...  
  
"I brought you something," she said, reaching for the buckle  
of her satchel, "Wanna' know what it is?"  
  
"I don't care," He replied, coldly. But really, he was a great  
deal curious about what it could be. Even if it was a bad thing, he  
still wanted to know. But she was obviously going to show it to him  
anyway, so what was the use of letting her know that he was  
interested?  
  
"Oh, don't be that way," She admonished, playfully. From her  
bag she produced several bags of chips, candy, and other assorted  
junk food.  
  
Touji's eyes went wide. She had chosen all the really good  
flavours too! He had to admit, as bitchy and as conceited as Asuka  
was, she had good taste. Much better than Ayanami and Shinji,  
anyway. She ate a lot of meat, and stuffed her face with greasy and  
sugary crap all the time. She was living it up.  
  
He had to ask, though, inspite of himself, "What'd ya' bring  
all this stuff for?"  
  
Asuka gave him a coy smile, "Aww Touji, I've been in a  
hospital before. I know how shitty the food is. That's why I brought  
you this nice selection of artery cloggers." She leaned forward, and  
brought her voice to a whisper, "Hikari told me that they wouldn't  
let her bring in her obento, so I decided to stow away this stuff."  
  
Touji was still suspicious, but he couldn't help it. He was  
damned hungry. He'd been craving something sweet that wasn't jell-o  
for a long, long time. He started to reach for a bag of chips when  
he remembered.  
  
Right. Can't open a bag with only one arm. He stared at it,  
too proud to ask the great Asuka Langley Sohryuu for help. He'd  
rather go hungry...  
  
Luckily, he didn't have to. Asuka caught on quick, and ripped  
the top of the bag open for him. She took a chip and held it in  
front of his face.  
  
He ate it, wordlessly. This continued on, until the bag was  
completely empty (well, save the crumbs).  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence. Touji couldn't think of a  
thing to say. Asuka could, it was just that she would rather not say  
them out loud.  
  
"Did you go to school today?" Touji asked, suddenly, trying to  
make conversation so they wouldn't have to sit in akward silence...  
Hah. He'd just used Asuka and silence in the same sentence  
together... Funny that.  
  
Asuka was so absorbed in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear  
him, "Wha? Oh, no, actually. How'd you guess?"  
  
"Well, you got here right after school ended. There was no way  
you could have made it that fast. And your schoolbag is filled with  
junkfood and not books or homework." He said, pointedly.  
  
Asuka looked impressed, something near short of a miracle,  
"Perceptive, Suzuhara. I thought I was pretty slick, considering the  
nurses didn't catch me."  
  
He shrugged, "So how'd you get out of school today, anyway?  
Misato's cool and all, I just never thought she was the type to let  
chicks like you run around and do whatever you want."  
  
"I told Misato that I wanted to go for a check-up since I got  
kinda' banged up from being booted out of the last fight. She said  
it was a good idea," Asuka laughed, suddenly, "But it's obvious she  
knew why I was really coming down here... She did give me money and  
all. She never gives me money. Especially since she knows I have  
it."  
  
Touji was only half listening to her. She had been denied to  
fight that time? He remembered hearing about both Rei and Shinji's  
Eva attacking him, but he heard nothing about Asuka's... At the  
time, he hadn't payed it any mind.  
  
"Why weren't you allowed to fight?" He asked.  
  
Asuka's countenance darkened, and he could have sworn that the  
temperature in the room had just dropped a good fourty degrees or  
so. "I was about to tell Shinji that you were the fourth children,  
and that bastard father of his thought it would only cause trouble.  
I was ejected out of the entry plug."  
  
Touji didn't know what to say. The thought of Shinji's father  
made his entire being flare up with anger. Wasn't he the reason he  
was crippled now? Didn't he use Touji's sister to bribe him to  
pilot? And now Shinji was filled with self-hate because his Eva had  
ruined Touji's life.  
  
Asuka seemed to sense the hatred brewing inside of the boy on  
the bed. The more she looked at him, the more he reminded her of  
herself... So full of hate, so full of rage. She wondered if he was  
going to keep it all in. She hoped not. Then he'd turn into her. All  
bitter and full of pain...  
  
Asuka shifted in the chair, uncomfortably. It seemed to be  
just what was needed to break Touji from his spell. He glanced at  
her.  
  
"What?" He questioned.  
  
"S'nothin." She muttered, "I just don't like hospitals and  
all. They make me feel cold."  
  
He raised an eyebrow in suprise, "Really? Why is that?  
Hospitals are supposed to make ya' feel warm, and safe, and  
protected..." His lips curved into a smirk, as he figured it out the  
answer himself "I know what Shinji's is... What's /your/ childhood  
trauma?"  
  
She looked genuinely annoyed, but she didn't hit him or yell  
at him like she ususally did when she felt that way, "My mother went  
insane and hung herself from the ceiling..." She said softly,  
rubbing her arms to generate heat. Apparently hospitals /did/ make  
feel her cold.  
  
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. She'd  
just said it... So easily... She couldn't even tell Shinji, because  
she knew he'd be giving her those pitying looks for weeks and weeks.  
But she'd just told that irritating Suzuhara.  
  
Her mother was the one thing she hated talking about, she  
never wanted to admit that there had even been a mother to ruin her  
life in the first place. She'd /cautiously/ asked Misato if she  
knew... Just in case Misato /didn't/ know, and asking her would  
spark her interests.  
  
Misato ended up knowing after all, and tried not to make a big  
deal out of it.  
  
She was glad. Misato understood, and never mentioned it. She  
never tried to treat her differently, never looked at her with pity.  
That scar across Misato's chest had something to do with it, Asuka  
was sure.  
  
Learn from experience, ya' know.  
  
Touji stared at Asuka. Words escaped him. That had never  
happened before. He /always/ knew what to say to Asuka. Most of the  
time it was an insult, more recently (with her bond with Shinji  
deepening) it had been innuendo. But he'd always had something to  
snap back at her, something he could say without really having to  
think about it.  
  
"I..."  
  
He chose not to say anything.  
  
Looking at Asuka now, her face emotionless, and her eyes hard,  
Touji finally realized that he didn't really know the girl sitting  
next to him at all.  
  
Sure, there were times when he had accurately predicted her  
actions or her words. But to truly know Asuka, he had to understand  
/why/ she felt so compelled to do the things she did. And that was  
something he didn't know, because he didn't know /her/.  
  
He didn't know about the poor, dead mother swinging from a  
ceiling. He didn't know about the little girl who had no doubt cried  
herself into hysterics when she learned about that mother.  
  
He wondered who had it worse, Shinji or Asuka? At least Asuka  
knew what happened to her mother. Shinji probably spent sleepless  
nights, wondering what had caused the death of his.  
  
"Don't feel sorry for me, Suzuhara." Asuka said, shaking him  
from his thoughts.  
  
He stared up at her. Her face was still stoic. "I don't feel  
sorry for you... Why would you think that?"  
  
"Everyone else does. They think of me as poor, poor Asuka."  
She rose from her seat, her fists clenching tightly, "I hate pity,  
don't you?"  
  
"Sure I do," he responded, chuckling bitterly, "And that's all  
I get now a days."  
  
Another silence.  
  
"Shinji, and Hikari... They don't..." She trailed off, and  
Touji smiled and nodded knowingly at her. "And Kensuke... He doesn't  
have anyone else to feel sorry for but himself."  
  
"What about Ayanami?"  
  
"Ayanami doesn't feel /anything/. That's all."  
  
He laughed, and turned to her, getting serious very quickly,  
"What about you? Do /you/ feel sorry for me?"  
  
By that time, Asuka had settled back down to the seat next to  
Touji's bed. She was staring ahead, at some unknown point of  
interest. For a moment he didn't think she had even heard him. But  
she spoke up before he could repeat himself.  
  
"Ritsuko-sensei... She told me what you did. How you agreed to  
become an Eva pilot so your sister could be transferred here."  
Asuka leaned on the back of the chair, "And when Shinji and I were  
civil we'd talk about stuff. He told me you beat him shitless  
because his piloting skills were careless."  
  
Touji stared at her.  
  
"You hate Nerv," she stated, instead of asking, "But you  
agreed to work for them because you love your sister so much. Touji,  
how could I possibly feel sorry for you?" She looked him in the eye,  
her intense azure orbs burning passionatley into his, "Don't you go  
crying' it out to the world, man, but you have nothing but my  
respect."  
  
Their eyes continued to stare into each other, until Asuka  
blushed and looked away, realizing that she had just said a mouth  
full. Touji was still watching her, carefully, still trying to  
figure out whether or not he'd just imagined that little scene that  
took place.  
  
After a moment, he realized that it had... And it made Asuka  
feel very uncomfortable.  
  
He smirked, "Tch, Sohryuu, why don't ya' save it for a  
hallmark?"  
  
She gave him a puzzled look, a look that almost said 'didn't  
you hear me pour my heart out to you?'. But then she realized what  
he was doing. The look washed away, replaced by a faux insulted one.  
  
"Anta Baka? You dare speak to the beautiful Asuka Langley  
Sohryuu-sama that way?"  
  
They laughed and argued until the nurse came in and told Asuka  
that she was being a disturbance. Asuka left her satchel, and was  
dragged away from Touji's room, complaining and screeching.  
  
He sat there for a moment, staring at the wall in reflective  
silence. He thought about what he said and what Asuka said, he  
thought about what he'd learned...  
  
... And he picked up a bag of chips, and ripped the top off  
with his teeth. He fed himself. Afterall, he needed to get used to  
this.  
  
He didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him, did he?  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
NOTES: Gomen ne! This is really short! Or maybe that's better,  
because you don't have to sit through this crap if it's faster to  
finish. ^_^  
  
Asuka's a little OOC because if she acted like she normally did,  
well, then someone would have to boot her in the face. I think this  
is how she would have acted if she had gone to see Touji. I doubt  
she'd talk so much, but I had to put in a lot of dialouge. And it's  
not like they really hate each other that much.  
  
As for the 'school on Saturday' thing, I heard somewhere that in  
Japan, some schools make the kids go to school on Saturday. I'm  
probably wrong, but I won't correct it, 'cause maybe things are  
different in the year 2015! And maybe I don't want to change it. ^_^  
Aa, hospital food ain't that bad... It is if you're a patient, of  
course. The cafeteria food is pretty good, actually.  
  
I don't know what the children call Ritsuko, so I just put,  
"Ritsuko-sensei". They almost always disregard "Mr" or "Mrs" in the  
AD Vision subtitled version. 


End file.
